Brookfield Wheel Days 9/24/06
In the early 1950’s, the racetrack at the
Madison County Fairgrounds was the
place to be. Prior to Fonda’s opening in
1953, Brookfield was the premier facility
of the Eastern Mutual Racing Club and
the stars and cars of the club read like a
who’s who of what we now consider the
Pioneer’s of Racing in New York State.
Fred Sheppard, Chuck Mahoney, The
Gerow’s, Fred and Jim, Cliff & Tom
Kotary, Al ‘Suicide’ Sanders, Tommy
Wilson, Don Henderberg, Bernie Ingersol,
Kurzon ‘Moose, Cary, Bill ‘Hell on
Wheels’ Brunschmidt, Frank and George
Gallup, Bob Fiske, Nick ‘Private Eye’
Carter, Bernie Miller, Vinny Maugeri,
Paul Korman and even a young Earl
Halaquist were on the roster. Joe
Ciganenko was piloting club president
Frank Trinkaus #62 and Mike Sandy was
manning the microphone under what was
then, state of the art lighting. It was a
booming place, long, fast and dusty
straights with hairpin turns reinforced
with concrete; supposedly, to minimize
the dust and ruts. Gene Cole related to
me once that the concrete posed no
difficulty, ‘You just stuck your left front in
the rut below it and the mud was up on it
anyway so you could slide around.’ Just
imagine if you suddenly caught traction.
That wasn’t all. As reports of the time
described, many a night the fog would
roll in and mixed with the dust would
make the track impossible to navigate.
Willie Wust started adding a light to the
top of his cars just so the crew could see
where it was from the pits. What about
the poor driver?!? He coulda used some
night goggles I’m sure. The stands were
full every Saturday night, as were the
pits. Fonda came along with better
access, a better surface and
consequently, better racing but
Brookfield still remained a local hotbed
for racing through the 1950’s, a win at
the Madison County Fair Race was worth
bragging rights for a year.
The track fell silent during the 60’s and
didn’t re-invent itself until the later 1970’
s when it re-opened with late models
topping the card. Perfect timing for us as
we had just received our drivers licenses
and discovered Genny Cream Ale.
Sunday afternoons were filled with hot,
sweaty, dusty, fun times rooting on our
favorites at the gritty track. Every lap it
was hollers and yelps while we sipped
and covered, sip and cover, here they
come again, hand over cup. No problem
keeping your teeth clean, plenty of grit to
do the job. We rooted for Dicky Sweet’s
car, the Sweet 16 that Dick Schoonover
wheeled. He had plenty of competition
from Randy Glenski, Jim Rothwell, Tom
Williams, Bill Roese, ‘Fast’ Paul Jensen
and Jay Blesser; all Fonda regulars who
put on a great show. The track suffered
even then from a lack of funds and closed
after only a couple of years. The only
racing that took place there afterward was
when the Midstate Antique Stock Car
Club would show up during the Fair and
Wheel Days dates. These shows were well
attended and well raced. And the track
was still a tough place, shortened to a
quarter mile as it was during the late
1970’s, I think there was one light
covering the third and fourth corners and
as a driver, it was right in your eyes, Sure
made that forth turn wall come up in a
hurry. Very challenging, and a lot of fun
to race in front of your friends and family
who all got swept up in the excitement.
The track will always hold a lot of very
special memories for me personally as it’s
the site of my first win at the Fair in
1987. The trophy is still one of my
favorites.
The track remains, the grandstands are
renovated but essentially the same as
they were in the 1950’s. It’s like going
back in time when you pull into the
gates. The Fair doesn’t pull in as many
people as it once did but Wheel Days still
gets its share. A homecoming of sorts for
the P-13 of Tommy Wilson and Charley
Pierce. Along with Willie Wust’s
Mouseville Monster, the old flathead
powered Fords graced the grounds once
again this year for our club’s event and
the fans enjoyment. Passerby’s revel at
the crude machines, how could anyone
have raced them? We forget that these
were ‘State of the Art’ in the 1950’s and
1960’s. Fitted with ‘Full House’ Flathead
Fords, bored and stroked to the limit,
radius tappet camshafts, dual point
ignitions ( a Harmon Collins in the
Monster while the Pierce 13 sported a
Kong) and multiple carburation, these
cars would approach 100 miles per hour
on the long straights of Brookfield. Plenty
of interest, and a pleasure to describe the
times to interested fans. It was a bit of a
homecoming for us, as well as a look back
to when times were simpler, and maybe a
bit more fun. We met a fellow named Dick
Ray who related "you could buy a car for
$25, put some big tires on the right side,
bend up some water pipe for a rollbar,
weld up the spider gears and go racing. I
sure miss those days." He also talked of
Harry Goodle's race track located between
Little Falls and Mohawk on 5S. "It was an
eighth mile track on his farm, he'd clean
the cowshit off it and we'd have a good 'ol
time. Just raced for these little trophies,
no money...I had a '38 Plymouth and I
could push those Fords around with it.."
I'm sure many people miss those days, it
sure was fun reminiscing about them on
this one.
Madison County Fairgrounds was the
place to be. Prior to Fonda’s opening in
1953, Brookfield was the premier facility
of the Eastern Mutual Racing Club and
the stars and cars of the club read like a
who’s who of what we now consider the
Pioneer’s of Racing in New York State.
Fred Sheppard, Chuck Mahoney, The
Gerow’s, Fred and Jim, Cliff & Tom
Kotary, Al ‘Suicide’ Sanders, Tommy
Wilson, Don Henderberg, Bernie Ingersol,
Kurzon ‘Moose, Cary, Bill ‘Hell on
Wheels’ Brunschmidt, Frank and George
Gallup, Bob Fiske, Nick ‘Private Eye’
Carter, Bernie Miller, Vinny Maugeri,
Paul Korman and even a young Earl
Halaquist were on the roster. Joe
Ciganenko was piloting club president
Frank Trinkaus #62 and Mike Sandy was
manning the microphone under what was
then, state of the art lighting. It was a
booming place, long, fast and dusty
straights with hairpin turns reinforced
with concrete; supposedly, to minimize
the dust and ruts. Gene Cole related to
me once that the concrete posed no
difficulty, ‘You just stuck your left front in
the rut below it and the mud was up on it
anyway so you could slide around.’ Just
imagine if you suddenly caught traction.
That wasn’t all. As reports of the time
described, many a night the fog would
roll in and mixed with the dust would
make the track impossible to navigate.
Willie Wust started adding a light to the
top of his cars just so the crew could see
where it was from the pits. What about
the poor driver?!? He coulda used some
night goggles I’m sure. The stands were
full every Saturday night, as were the
pits. Fonda came along with better
access, a better surface and
consequently, better racing but
Brookfield still remained a local hotbed
for racing through the 1950’s, a win at
the Madison County Fair Race was worth
bragging rights for a year.
The track fell silent during the 60’s and
didn’t re-invent itself until the later 1970’
s when it re-opened with late models
topping the card. Perfect timing for us as
we had just received our drivers licenses
and discovered Genny Cream Ale.
Sunday afternoons were filled with hot,
sweaty, dusty, fun times rooting on our
favorites at the gritty track. Every lap it
was hollers and yelps while we sipped
and covered, sip and cover, here they
come again, hand over cup. No problem
keeping your teeth clean, plenty of grit to
do the job. We rooted for Dicky Sweet’s
car, the Sweet 16 that Dick Schoonover
wheeled. He had plenty of competition
from Randy Glenski, Jim Rothwell, Tom
Williams, Bill Roese, ‘Fast’ Paul Jensen
and Jay Blesser; all Fonda regulars who
put on a great show. The track suffered
even then from a lack of funds and closed
after only a couple of years. The only
racing that took place there afterward was
when the Midstate Antique Stock Car
Club would show up during the Fair and
Wheel Days dates. These shows were well
attended and well raced. And the track
was still a tough place, shortened to a
quarter mile as it was during the late
1970’s, I think there was one light
covering the third and fourth corners and
as a driver, it was right in your eyes, Sure
made that forth turn wall come up in a
hurry. Very challenging, and a lot of fun
to race in front of your friends and family
who all got swept up in the excitement.
The track will always hold a lot of very
special memories for me personally as it’s
the site of my first win at the Fair in
1987. The trophy is still one of my
favorites.
The track remains, the grandstands are
renovated but essentially the same as
they were in the 1950’s. It’s like going
back in time when you pull into the
gates. The Fair doesn’t pull in as many
people as it once did but Wheel Days still
gets its share. A homecoming of sorts for
the P-13 of Tommy Wilson and Charley
Pierce. Along with Willie Wust’s
Mouseville Monster, the old flathead
powered Fords graced the grounds once
again this year for our club’s event and
the fans enjoyment. Passerby’s revel at
the crude machines, how could anyone
have raced them? We forget that these
were ‘State of the Art’ in the 1950’s and
1960’s. Fitted with ‘Full House’ Flathead
Fords, bored and stroked to the limit,
radius tappet camshafts, dual point
ignitions ( a Harmon Collins in the
Monster while the Pierce 13 sported a
Kong) and multiple carburation, these
cars would approach 100 miles per hour
on the long straights of Brookfield. Plenty
of interest, and a pleasure to describe the
times to interested fans. It was a bit of a
homecoming for us, as well as a look back
to when times were simpler, and maybe a
bit more fun. We met a fellow named Dick
Ray who related "you could buy a car for
$25, put some big tires on the right side,
bend up some water pipe for a rollbar,
weld up the spider gears and go racing. I
sure miss those days." He also talked of
Harry Goodle's race track located between
Little Falls and Mohawk on 5S. "It was an
eighth mile track on his farm, he'd clean
the cowshit off it and we'd have a good 'ol
time. Just raced for these little trophies,
no money...I had a '38 Plymouth and I
could push those Fords around with it.."
I'm sure many people miss those days, it
sure was fun reminiscing about them on
this one.
Thanks for having us
Ray, see you next year.
Ray, see you next year.